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June 5, 2009

6-6 OKC watch

2 more colleges announce tuition freeze

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Two more state colleges are announcing they will freeze tuition and fees for the coming school year.

Oklahoma City Community College and Langston University officials said Friday they will not ask for tuition or fee increases for the 2009-10 academic year.

State higher education Chancellor Glenn Johnson recently said he hoped there would be few — if any — requests for tuition and fee increases this year. Johnson said the Legislature has increased funding for higher education despite a difficult economy that led to budget cuts for some state agencies.

The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, University of Central Oklahoma, Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State have also announced tuition and fee freezes.



Government modernization plan signed into law

OKLAHOMA CITY — Gov. Brad Henry has signed House Bill 1032, the Oklahoma State Government Modernization Act of 2009, authored by Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, and Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie.

Murphey said the bill continues efforts to increase transparency of state government spending, puts a stop to certain inappropriate fee increases, requires agencies to provide online access to licensing and permitting processes, eliminates an unnecessary state board and is expected to save millions of taxpayer dollars by providing a new focus on leveraging state purchasing processes through a dramatic redesign of the state’s centralized purchasing processes.

“This legislation represents a comprehensive approach to cleaning up wasteful and inefficient government processes,” Brogdon said. “Whether it is renewing their car tags online or just reviewing state spending the people can use now use technology to their advantage instead of being held hostage by a large government bureaucracy.”

The changes incorporated in the bill include:

• Increasing transparency by requiring all purchases made by state employees with state purchasing cards (P-cards) to be posted online through the ok.gov Internet portal for the public to review.

• Tightening up statutory language so that state agencies are no longer allowed to backdoor certain IT costs into online convenience fee increases.

• Making state licensing and permitting more accessible by requiring state entities to provide the public with the option of renewing or applying for permits and licenses online. Online permitting is expected to save many state employee man hours and result in taxpayer savings.

“HB 1032 is an important second step along the path of government modernization,” Murphey said. “The bill will set the stage for a new round of modernization and money-saving initiatives next year.”

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